Andy Stead - Health & Fitness Trainer

03/06/2026

The shock!

Something many in the fitness have known for years looks like it’s finally being recognised in the mainstream.

Great stuff.

Doing 90 minutes to two hours of weight training per week can greatly reduce the risk of an early death, according to new research. Read why: https://bbc.in/3RKL9Nw

17/05/2026

Very proud of how week 1 of Backside To Trackside CIC went, some amazing people and great coaching!

1 week down, 8 to go! 💪🏻

What an amazing first week of delivery!

Hundreds of people across 5 venues in two counties started their health and fitness journeys and were all introduced to their local tracks and asked “why” by their coach, challenging participants to think deeply about their motivations and what’s inspiring them to make the change.

Basildon Borough CouncilBasildon Sporting VillageFind Your Active - BasildonImpulse Leisure - ThurrockThurrock CouncilFind Your Active ThurrockFind Your Active - BrentwoodBrentwood Borough CouncilBrentwood School Sports CentreCastle Point Borough CouncilStevenage Arts & Leisure CentreNorth Herts & Stevenage Community OutreachActive EssexHerts Sport & Physical Activity PartnershipEngland Athletics

15/05/2026

As John Cena says “the time is now”.

There is never a right time to start, something will always be in the way, you may always be too busy, you may never feel motivated.

Don’t wait for the right time.

The TIME IS NOW.

10/05/2026

Blown away. Over 500 sign ups to my programme this spring.

Funny, someone said to me the other day “now the hard part starts”… as in the delivery. I mean yeah, it’s gonna be tough be it’s the bit I love.

The hard part was the work that has gone in to securing the funding, building the relationships with local authorities and leisure providers, building the reputation, hiring and training staff, and finally, pushing sign ups.

So yeah the next 9 weeks is gonna be challenging, but I cannot wait!

Let’s f***ing go!!!

We’ve hit 500 sign ups!!!

Could not be happier.

Now the fun part starts. See you trackside 💪🏻

09/05/2026

Potentially controversial post.

A client got injured this week. It doesn’t happen often, but it has happened before (I’ve delivered literally tens of thousands of sessions to tens of thousands of people, it’s inevitable) and, as much as I don’t want it to happen and put things in place to reduce the risks, it will probably happen again (not selling myself here am I).

But this wasn’t doing some massive lift, a weird exercise or something this person has never done before. And they were not moving badly at all, in fact, I was literally, at the time, saying how smooth and controlled the movement looked. Then BAM… a back twinge!

Luckily it wasn’t too bad. We immediately stopped, assessed, had a chat, done some very light stretching and then called the session sending them on their way with some movements that will hopefully help recovery. And, it seems like this won’t stop them moving or be a problem for too long. So that’s good.

Anyway here’s my point.

Perfect technique does not guard you from injury, and (here’s the controversial part) poor technique doesn’t mean you will get injured.

Now of course if you move well you’ll probably avoid injury most of the time and if you always move badly you may get injured more often, but in and of themselves “good” and “bad” techniques are not a guarantee.

I guess my message here is don’t avoid starting exercise because you are worried you aren’t doing it perfectly, as even if you are, there’s always a chance of something bad happening. “Why take the risk” I hear you say. Well, I’d much rather have a little injury that I can overcome fairly quickly due to the fact that I’m moving my body regularly than have lifelong debilitating pain due to the fact that I don’t move it at.

“The biggest risk is not taking any risk... In a world that is changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.” - said some guy once that has something to do with this platform. 😜

27/04/2026

While this videos subject is about arts and being creative, there’s a message here for us fitness people, especially those who may have achieved a huge feat, like a marathon…

The speaker is basically saying enjoy the process rather than obsessing over the result, as once you reach that peak, it can be cold and lonely and there’s only one way to go.

Find a love for doing the thing, no matter what that thing might be; running, lifting weights, a sport, a class, gardening, it doesn’t matter, enjoy the process, that’s the reward.

Over two decades of interviewing countless creative people, Debbie Millman (host of the iconic "Design Matters" podcast) had a realization: the pride and joy of accomplishing something often evaporates almost instantly. She explains how to stop chasing external validation for your achievements and i...

15/04/2026

Hi all.

If you or anyone you know would like to become more active or begin a running journey then this is perfect.

This is my “baby” and this year we’ve expanded across the county (and in to another county) so it’s all very exciting.

If you could share this around that would be amazing, we’re hoping to engage with 600 people, which quite frankly, would be incredible.

Thanks.

10/04/2026

Client poll.

Should I subject you to the additional challenge of a Derek while training in the studio?

07/04/2026

Today is World Health Day 🌍♥️

What is your top health tip? Could be about anything to do with health, not just exercise and fitness.

29/03/2026

🤔 I was asked yesterday if I thought AI would take over my job. I instantly said no.

🤖 Yes AI can write exercise programmes, probably the best exercise programmes that have ever existed.

🍏 Yes it can tell you what to eat and give you macro breakdowns and portion sizes.

🏋🏻‍♀️ It can tell you how to do an exercise with all the correct techniques.

🤝🏻 But the thing is, I’m not in that business. I’m in the people business.

😔 AI can’t tell if you’re having a rough week because the car broke down or the kids are playing up. AI can’t empathise with you because work has been stressful. AI hasn’t had a tooth pulled so understands the pain you went through yesterday. AI didn’t lose a parent, a pet, a job, a friend, it doesn’t understand grief.

📒 So yeah, if you’re a person who can just get thier head down when given a strict set of parameters and get in and out of the gym then cool, AI may well be the way to go.

👍🏻 But if you want a human being to stay accountable for you, to support you, to understand you, to listen to you, then maybe invest in a real person.